Prima donna pours
Jeffery Lindenmuth reports.
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| Tent count |
| Nuevo Restaurant Row |
| Next stop, Lyons |
| Conquering Versailles? |
New York City—According to the nonprofit Wine Market Council, women account for about 64 percent of all wine consumers. And now, a few women are deciding not just which wines to buy but precisely what goes into the bottle. French actress Carole Bouquet needed little help seducing James Bond in For Your Eyes Only, and her wines from Bordeaux and Pantelleria, a small island near Sicily, have had a similar effect on wine lovers, commanding up to $100 a bottle at retail and landing on lists at several Alain Ducasse restaurants. Martha Stewart recently joined with Gallo to create three limited-edition Sonoma Country varietal wines priced at $15, a very good thing for wine drinkers on a budget. And actress Lorraine Bracco, best known for her role as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the HBO drama The Sopranos, keeps it in the family with her all-Italian collection, including such prestigious regional wines as Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino. "A lot of my wines are big and bold, like me. But luckily, I have nine varieties to choose from. What can I say, I like having options," says Bracco.
